Conceptualization of omnichannel customer experience and its impact on shopping intention: A mixed-method approach

Abstract

Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) have led to the revolution in retail industry through integrating multiple available channels to enhance seamless customer experience, promoting a shift from multichannel to omnichannel business. This phenomenon has gained increasing attention in both academia and industry due to growing challenges to serve customers effectively. This study adopted a mixed-method approach to firstly conceptualize omnichannel customer experience and develop a survey instrument. Then, this study draws on the innovation diffusion theory to develop a nomological model that posits perceived compatibility and perceived risk as key linking mechanisms between omnichannel experience and omnichannel shopping intention. To achieve our research objective, we collected two data sets including pretest (n = 141) and model test (n = 377). We found that the constructs that represented our omnichannel experience conceptualization were good predictors of perceived compatibility and perceived risk, which further impact customers’ shopping intention. This study provides a rich conceptualization of an instrument for omnichannel customer experience that can serve as a springboard for future research to investigate the antecedents and impacts of omnichannel experience and can be used as a guide to design effective omnichannel retailing strategy.